Podcast: How the Supreme Court's 2012 Employment Rulings Affect HR

Hosted by: David Weisenfeld

It was almost impossible to avoid coverage of the Supreme Court's blockbuster health care ruling this summer. But that was not the only case from the Court's past term with notable employment law implications.

For instance, the justices handed a victory to employers on June 18, 2012 in finding that pharmaceutical outside sales representatives are exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This 5-4 ruling in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham was a rebuke to the Department of Labor, which argued that the FLSA's protections covered the sales reps.

How the Supreme Court's 2012 Employment Rulings Affect HR

September 7, 2012

The Court also made news in striking down several parts of Arizona's controversial "Show Me Your Papers" law, including an employment provision that it found to be inconsistent with federal immigration law. This provision would have imposed criminal penalties on undocumented workers seeking employment in the state.

Meanwhile, the justices also had a significant religious discrimination ruling in holding that the ministerial exception, grounded in the First Amendment, blocked a parochial school teacher's ADA lawsuit. While most of the teacher's duties were not religious in nature, the Court found the exception still applied in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC.

Of course, the Court's pronouncement on the Affordable Care Act was the term's headline grabber, but these other decisions will affect the HR realm as well.

XpertHR takes an in-depth look at all of these cases in a special Supreme Court Review Podcast you won't want to miss. Our Michael Cardman, Tracy Morley and Melissa Silver join me in discussing key takeaway points from the rulings.